By Ranjona Banerji
That the administration and the BJP tried to ignore and suppress the news is only to be expected.
That media should also do the same thing… Well. It’s intriguing in some ways but totally expected in others. The clue of course is in my first sentence.
Since last Sunday India’s wrestlers, which include various national and international champions have been sitting at Jantar Mantar in the National Capital in protest against the action and behaviour of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India.
They have accused Singh of sexual harassment and FIRs have been filed against him. After protests in January, they were assured of action. So far, the Delhi police has not taken their complaint any further and no investigation has been conducted.
So, to recap: some of India’s prominent medal-winners and promising sportspersons are on the streets, asking for justice against a sexual predator.
But they have come up against brick walls. In fact, they have received brick bats: PT Usha, iconic Indian athlete and head of the Indian Olympic Association has said that these protests “amount to indiscipline”.
In that other India, in which we used to live, the media would have had a field day with this. Imagine. Medal-winners on the streets, charges of sexual harassment and government inaction. So where are those breathless high-decibel TV debates on injustice and women’s rights?
What I didn’t mention is that Brij Bhushan Singh is a member of the BJP.
Nor am I saying that no media is discussing this.
https://thewire.in/rights/wrestlers-protests-vinesh-phogat-brij-bhushan-singh-womens-bodies
But. It has taken time for what should be a prominent story to hit the headlines. And it is nowhere close to dominating the news cycle, in spite of having needed every ingredient.
Compare the media reaction to India’s premier sportspersons sitting on the road protesting against sexual harassment by a prominent person with connections to the ruling party to the way TV reporters chased a postman outside starlet Rhea Chakraborty’s apartment complex during the Sushant Singh Rajput story. Or how big-name TV anchors jumped on to earthmovers to get a taste of what it feels like to destroy a Muslim home.
Where is that “journalistic” fervour now? Drowned in obeisance in case any mud sticks to the BJP?
This craven refusal to take on the BJP… I am running out of words to address it. The Prime Minister of India attends a media conclave and makes a crass joke about suicide. Silence. Wrestlers against sexual harassment. Silence. Hindu religious bodies call for death to minorities – again. Silence. I can keep listing these media anomalies.
And come up with no answer except either agreement or fear.
Many members of the general public buy the explanation that it is money that makes the media so pro-BJP. This may be true when it comes to owners. But this is not the first time that governments have threatened the media and yet, we have managed to stand firm against pressure. And when it comes to individual journalists, especially at the senior level, the silence is deafening. It was not so long ago that editors would publicly quit their jobs because of such pressures. How many high profile anchors have you heard of quitting in rage at their principles being compromised.
None. I know you will name a few in TV, but this happened only when doom was fait accompli. Not when the winds of horror were blowing through newsrooms.
No, after much deliberation, the only explanation I can come up with is that individual members of today’s mainstream media are in favour of fascism and directly opposed to democracy.
Let’s see where they take the wrestlers’ protest before we call final judgment?
Am not holding my breath.
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.